Towline fixture



Sept. 29, 1964 AKIRA TERADA 3,150,630

TOWLINE FIXTURE Filed Oct. 18, 1963 INVENTOR. AKIRA TERADA ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,150,630 TOWLINE FIXTURE Akita Terada, Nagata-ku, Kobe-shi, Japan, assignor to Continental Oil Company, Ponca City, Okla, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 317,234 1 Claim. (Cl. 114-235) This invention relates to a towline fixture comprising a hook member projecting below the water surface and supported rotatably by a towline fixing body, a guide rope attached at one end to said hook member which is provided at the other end with a float member, a catch means fitted in the hook member that is fixed to one end of a rope, and a restraining member provided accessibly on the towline fixing body whose tip engages with the tip of said hook member to restrain removal of said catch means from said hook member. The object of the invention is to enable fixing and removal of a towline to or from a towline fixing body of a submergible vessel in a simple manner and from a position removed from the fixing body.

The present invention is explained with reference to an embodiment thereof as applied to a submersible tow shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a towline fixture according to the present invention; and

FIGURES 2 and 3 are views illustrating the states wherein towlines are being fixed and removed, respectively.

In these figures, the numeral 1 indicates the hull of a submersible vessel to be towed representing the towline fixing body under the invention, which is provided with a hook member 3 outwardly below the water surface 2, the shank of said hook member 3 being rotatably inserted in a fixing frame 4a of the hull 1. Also in the figures, 5 indicates flanges attached to said shank on either side of the fixing frame to prevent longitudinal movement of the hook member 3. To the rear or interior end of the shank of the hook member 3 is attached a toothed wheel 6, which engages with a toothed wheel 6' fixed to the driving shaft of an electric motor 7 installed inside the hull 1.

Into the fixing frame 4b of said hull 1 is inserted a restraining lever 8 in such manner that it can freely enter or come out of the hull 1 so that it can prevent the catch means of the towline which will be described later from separating and coming out of the hook member 3. A rack 9 provided on the rear portion of said restraining lever 8 is engaged with a pinon 11 which is driven by operation of the handle aboard the hull 1, in such manner that the restraining lever 8 can be caused to enter or come out of the hull 1 by operation of said handle 10. In the figures, 12 indicates stops, respectively, attached in spaced relationship on either side of the fixing frame to said restraining lever 8 in order to limit longitudinal movement of said lever 8.

Adjacent to the free end of said hook member 3 is fixed an end of the guide rope 14 which is provided at the other end with a float 13.

Since the apparatus of the invention is constructed as has been explained above, in fixing a towline 15 to the hull 1, an end link 16 which constitutes a catching means for the hook member 3 is put through the guide rope 14 above the water surface 2, and is let fall along the guide rope 14, and is further engaged with the hook member 3. Then the handle 10 is operated to cause the restraining lever 8 to project from the hull 1 so that 3,l5fi,63il Patented Sept. 29., 1964 "ice the tip of said lever engages the groove 3a close to the free end of the hook member 3, thereby restraining said end link 16 from coming off the hook member 3. Thus the towline 15 is fixed to the hull 1 with certainty.

When the towline 15 is to be removed from the hull, the electric motor 7 is operated through the toothed wheels 6 and 6 to cause downward rotation of the hook member 3 as shown in FIGURE 3. This causes the end link 16 to drop in the water and come 01f the hook member 3, and, after the guide rope 14 and the float 13 have passed through the end link 16, the end of the guide rope 14 is floated above the water by means of the float 13, thereby enabling repetitive use of the guide rope 14.

Thus, according to the apparatus above described, fitting and removal of a towline to or from a submersible tow is readily made and without the necessity of any underwater manual operation. The rotation of said hook member 3 may be caused not only by an electric motor as shown, but by an air motor, or a hydraulic motor, or by coupling to motion of a piston driven by fluid pressure, or by man power, or by remote wireless control.

As has hereinbefore been explained, the present invention provides a hook member projected below the water surface and which is supported rotatably by a towline fixing body, a guide rope attached at one end to said hook member and which is provided at the other end with a float member, a towline to be fixed to said towline fixing body, said towline being provided at one end with a catch means for said hook member, and a restraining member which is attached accessibly to said towline fixing body and whose tip engages with the tip of said hook member for separation thereof. Therefore, when the catch means of the tow rope has been fitted to the guide rope and dropped along the guide rope into engagement with the hook member, and the restraining member has been caused to advance beyond the towline fixing body to engage at its tip with the tip of the hook member thereby restraining said catch means of said rope from coming off the hook member, the towline is fixed to the towline fixing body with certainty. Also, the towline can be simply removed from the towline fixing body by causing the restraining member to recede into the towline fixing body and rotating the hook member to cause the catch means of the rope to drop from the hook member for separation from the fixing body. At the same time, the guide rope with water surface by means of the float member attached to said catch means removed therefrom is raised above the the end thereof, whereby said rope can be used repetitively. According to the present invention, the towline can be fixed to or removed from a designated underwater portion of a towline fixing body simply and certainly without necessity of underwater manual operation.

What is claimed is:

A towline fixture comprising a hook member pro jecting below the water surface and supported rotatably by a towline fixing body, a guide rope attached at one end to said hook member and which is provided at the other end with a float member, a catch means adapted to be fitted in the hook member which catch is fixed to one end of a towline, and a restraining member provided accessibly on the towline fixing body and whose tip engages with the tip of said hook member, thereby to restrain removal of said catch means from said hook member.

No references cited. 

